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It’s pouring down rain, spattering into puddles that have already formed outside of Fatgum’s agency where Momo works, and Momo doesn’t have an umbrella.
The one day she didn’t bring an umbrella in her rush to get to work on time after being sick all night, there’s rain. She was asked to cover Eijirou, and she couldn’t just find someone else to cover at the last minute. Especially when it’s desk duty for a last minute shift cover.
But her exhaustion is weighing too heavy on her alongside the inability to eat enough to use her quirk to make an umbrella.
So, Momo takes a deep breath, yawns as soon as the air fills her diaphragm, and steps through the glass down and out onto the sidewalk. The awning doesn’t stretch as far as it used to after a villain attack outside of the agency, so she’s immediately drenched in cold rainwater even through her sweater and leggings that she wore under her jeans because it was chilly when she came in that morning.
Her car broke down, so she had to walk this morning. Now, she’s highly regretting not catching a cab or bringing her train card as she starts her fifteen minute walk to her apartment building.
But the awful feeling weighing over her with exhaustion worsens when she sees pairs around her sharing an umbrella and curling together under it as they walk.
She really must be dead on her feet to envy couples when she’d turned down three dates in the last two weeks over a ridiculous crush she has on an underground hero that she believed was a villain back during the start of the war.
Stupid Touya Todoroki.
Her heart races as she thinks of this morning when she accidentally bumped into him on her way out because he was coming in. How he’d held her waist and furrowed his brows as he asked if she was okay because she looked a little paler than normal. How he didn’t seem to believe her when she’d told him that she was fine, but she hadn’t stayed long enough for him to question her because she was running late.
Momo hurries down the street carefully, attempting to stay away from the puddles that the cars aren’t shy about speeding through as they go down the street. Shivers wrack her as she turns a corner and forces herself to keep moving even as she catches sight of a little diner that would totally be warm and make her feel a bit better about her crappy walk.
She needs to just go home, shower, slip into her warm pjs, curl under her blanket, and settle in front of her space heater. Her movement is slowing, exhaustion weighing like lead, she’s still got a ways to go, and she’s pushing.
But Momo definitely wishes she’d have just called for a cab.
“Princess, why the hell don’t you have an umbrella?!”
Momo stops in her tracks in the middle of turning the corner as she catches Touya crossing the street towards her. Initially, she opens her mouth to respond until she’s knocked forward just in time for a car to speed down the road and drench her in the puddle they went through.
Momo’s hands are outspread at her sides, lips parted on a harsh, surprise-filled exhale, bottom lip trembling as shivers wrack through her.
“Dammit!” Touya’s voice is loud as Momo shakes her way out of her surprise and reminds herself why she’d stopped in the first place. “Jackasses always have to hit the stupid puddles.”
Warmth falls over her in the form of a heavy and long piece of clothing, and Momo sighs in relief, knees going weak from the feeling that immediately encases her. Touya’s trench coat is wrapped tightly around her body, Touya zipping it up one-handed as his other wraps around her to keep her steady while holding an umbrella over her head.
She should be worried about the paparazzi seeing them, but she’s been seen in closer proximity with Touya than this. Everyone seems to believe they’re dating already, despite both of their denials. Though Shouto has pointed out more than once that Touya’s denial is always on her part and not his own.
Hitoshi called them both out for, apparently, doing the same thing when they deny their relationship to whoever is brave enough to ask about it.
“Touya,” whispers Momo as she presses her head into his shoulder as both of his arms wrap around her, the trench coat partially zipped up for her. “What’re you even doing out here right now?”
“Had to run an errand for Sho and Hito. They needed me to pick up something they ordered from that bakery, both of them had the same fuckin’ idea for their anniversary,” replies Touya with a snort as he adjusts them and slowly walks them backwards until Momo’s back is pressed against a brick wall. “Why did you forget your umbrella today, Princess?”
“I didn’t mean to, but I was running late this morning. It’s been a rough night and day,” murmurs Momo as she feels heat warming her gently as he puts an arm on the wall next to her. He’s so close, her heart’s pounding in her ears, and if it weren’t for how hard her teeth were chattering, keeping her steady, she’d probably have lost it the moment the tips of their noses brushed. Touya leaned back gently, eyes widening in an almost panicked look before he put the space there like he always does. “But I’m not okay enough to make one right now either. So, was the idea getting each other the watches with their first date written on the inscription? Did you check ‘em to make sure they both got it right?”
“I did, and they did, of course,” replies Touya with an amused tone that Momo knows well because they both saw the mess of Katsuki and Izuku’s anniversary date getting screwed up. It took three days for Izuku to talk to Katsuki again, and that only happened after Katsuki proved that he had the right date, and it was the jeweler's fault. Shouto and Momo had gone in there and raised hell on their behalf because Izuku was just going to let it go, and Katsuki was going to do the same because Izuku pleaded with him for it. “If they didn’t, I was going to raise hell because they both texted me the dates and the email with the confirmation of all the information. It was a whole mess, by the way, can’t believe I gave those two my work number. But don’t think I’m going to just skip past what you said, Princess. Why aren’t you okay? What happened? Your shift was just desk duty, right? Did something happen?”
“I’m glad to hear it, though I hope I would’ve been the first call before you went and raised hell,” says Momo with an arched brow before she mellows back against the wall as she looks at him. But then she sighs, watching those blue eyes narrow on her like they’re waiting for an answer, one that she knows is going to throw him even further into protective mode than he was this morning. “I’ve got a cold, Touya. I’m sick, but it’s not that big of a deal. It just means that I’ve struggled with eating enough for my quirk to work. I’ve pushed to ensure I won't get quirk-sick, but otherwise, there’s nothing left for me.”
“Princess, why didn’t you tell me? I would’ve come over and helped take care of you,” murmurs Touya quietly as he looks at her with worry and disappointment, but then he shakes his head and those blue eyes flutter out of sight for a moment before meeting hers with a fierce determination. “Alright, that’s it. You’re coming with me to my place, and I’m taking care of you. I will also be calling Fat to get you some time off. There should be something that you can change into at my place still, so we should be okay. I also have enough to make a potato soup that should be light enough for your stomach to keep you from feeling overwhelmed. But first things first, I’m getting you into my apartment and giving you a piping hot mug of cocoa.”
“You don’t need to do that, take care of me, Touya,” murmurs Momo as she tries not to lose her mind at how close he is to her. “I can take care of myself, and I have been. I just couldn’t back out of my shift today because I was covering for someone else. Plus, I was on desk duty for it anyway.”
“No complaints, no arguments, and don’t think for one second that I’m not going to tell Sho on you for trying to work while sick. You’re getting time off, and as much rest as I can get you to try to get until you feel better,” grumbles Touya with a shake of his head before he steps away from her. He disappears towards the road and manages to track down a cab before waving her forward. “Let’s get you home.”
Momo doesn’t respond, just lets him help her into the cab, sliding over to give him room, and then she’s resting her head against his shoulder without a second thought. He wraps her into a hug, pulling her tightly against him as he tells the cabbie where to go, and then heat surrounds her in the best of ways.
She can’t help the way exhaustion starts tugging at her, the way she literally feels a bone-deep tiredness that has her eyes fluttering closed as the cab takes off. His arms are wrapped around her, his quirk definitely surfacing enough to help heat her up, and she’s basically pressed against him enough that the next move would be to actually climb into his lap.
Momo doesn’t even remember the ride as Touya’s voice gently calls for her to move with him until rain pelts down on her and has her eyes flying open. But by the time she actually registers that they’ve reached the apartment, Touya has her in his arms in a bridal-carry.
“Wha– Touya!” exclaims Momo loudly as the cab pulls away from them. “I can walk, you know.”
“You can, but why should you?” asks Touya cheekily as he carries her all the way up to the door of their apartment building and into the warm building. “So, do you want to walk up the stairs or take the elevator?”
“Elevator, nobody wants to walk up stairs when they’re sick,” huffs Momo as she wiggles, only for Touya’s hand to tighten around her legs to hold her still. She lets herself relax into it when he gives her a look with an arched brow and an amused smirk when she glares back. “Fine, I’ll stop wiggling. But just so you’re aware, I’m not happy about you not letting me walk.”
“Ah, you say you're not happy, but your cheeks are a light pink that has nothing to do with the rain or chill,” replies Touya knowingly as he presses the up button for the elevator and quickly steps in when the empty box is revealed.
Momo stays quiet for the short ride to their floor, but only because she can’t deny Touya’s statement. She knows that he knows it too because he’s smirking the whole time the elevator whirs around them and moves up, but with her arms wrapped around his neck as he holds her, she’s never felt so safe.
So, the ride is silent, but the moment they reach his door, the second his key is shoved into the lock and twisted, the words spill around them like normal.
“Okay, I can get the clothes and set them on the sink, or I can get them now while you’re getting the water to the temperature you’d prefer. Which would you prefer?” asks Touya as he steps into his apartment and sets her down carefully before turning to tug his key out to shut the door.
“I can get the water going, if you can bring the clothes. I’m not planning on taking a long shower, just enough to feel clean from the rain,” replies Momo easily as she slips out of her shoes before tugging off his trench coat to hang up on the coat rack.
“Sounds like a plan, but you don’t have to take a short shower, Princess,” says Touya as he locks the door and slips his own shoes off, running a hand through his slightly wet hair as he heads towards the hallway.
“I don’t want to be in there for too long, might fall asleep with how dead on my feet I am,” explains Momo sheepishly as she follows after him, ducking into the first room on the left, opposite the kitchen.
Momo leaves the door open as she gets the shower water running, giving it a few minutes before letting her wrist get pelted by the water to judge the temp. It takes her a few minutes and some adjusting to get it to where she wants it at, and Touya ducks in right as she feels satisfied.
“Alright, I got a hoodie, a tee, and some sweats for you. I hope they work, if you need anything else, you can yell,” says Touya as he passes over the stack of clothes, and Momo smiles gratefully at him, taking his hand before he can completely withdraw from her.
“Thank you, Touya,” says Momo softly as she gives his hand a soft squeeze, smiling when his eyes subtly widen in surprise. “I really– just, thank you, so much.”
“You don’t need to thank me, Princess,” murmurs Touya with a slight shake of his head, before he looks at her with this look that makes her feel loved even though she has no clue what his eyes are saying. “I will always be here for you, Momo, always.”
When he leaves the room, she can’t help but feel like something had just shifted between them. As she walks over to make sure the door’s shut, twisting the lock once she’s certain, Momo presses her head against the door and takes a deep, shuttering breath because there’s a new tension in the room.
Touya’s words, the look in his eyes, Momo doesn’t know what it is about it all, but she knows something important just happened.
She shakes it off long enough to undress and get in the shower, to wash herself down in warm water that feels so good on her rain-soaked skin, but the moment she’s out, wrapping her hair in a towel, that feeling is back.
It doesn’t help that she’s been thinking about finally confessing, about finally letting the words slip from her tongue in the face of Touya’s care and sweet support. Maybe it’s time for Momo to throw caution to the wind, to put it all on the line and just tell him. It’s not like the whole world isn’t already thinking about it, and when he rejects her, maybe it will finally get everyone off his back.
As she tugs on his clothes, his black hoodie with blue flames spreading out across the back like burning wings, Momo nods decisively. She’s going to let it happen tonight.
Her hair is still wet, but she wraps it up in the towel, knowing it should dry fairly quickly since it’s still fairly short from when she had to cut it after a fight that left it singed enough to look like an absolute wreck. She was so pissed when that villain had managed to get her hair in the crossfire of Shouto’s attempts to corner them.
“Oh, hey, you’re done already?” Touya sounds surprised as he looks at her through the archway into his kitchen.
“Yeah,” replies Momo softly as she looks at him, shaking her head when he sticks his tongue out at her. “I’m gonna keep my hair wrapped in a towel to avoid soaking your hoodie though. Do you need any help?”
“That’s fine, and nope! I got this, so you can go chill on the couch. I’m almost done,” says Touya with a grin as he waves her away before turning back to the two mugs that have small tendrils of barely visible steam wafting up from them.
Momo watches him for a moment longer, smiling when she sees him pile some marshmallows atop a dollop of whip cream atop a mug that she knows will end up being hers because he’s not a marshmallow fan. But then she heads over to the grey couch and settles onto a plush cushion, pulling her legs up until she can criss-cross them and get comfortable. It’s as she’s leaning back against the armrest of the couch that she gets a whiff of the burning wood scent that she’s used to when it comes to Touya. It’s coming from the sweatshirt, she realizes when she buries her nose in the neck, smiling to herself as she slips her arms back until the tips of her fingers can curl around the wrists of the sweatshirt to add to the warmth surrounding her.
“Here is your hot chocolate with a mountain of marshmallows,” says Touya gently, and Momo’s eyes flutter open to find him looking at her with a softness that has heat rushing to her cheeks as she lifts a hand to take the mug he’s offering to her. “You okay?”
“Yeah, just still a bit cold, but that shouldn’t last much longer,” replies Momo softly as she cups the mug between her hands, sighing at the head reverberating through it to her hands. “I’m sorry for taking up so much of your time. You were supposed to do something for Shouto and Hitoshi, and I definitely screwed with whatever that plan was.”
“You didn’t do anything like that, Princess,” says Touya with a fond tone as he shakes his head at her, setting his mug down on the coffee table in front of him before turning to sit sideways on the couch until he can properly face her. “I was supposed to pick up their gifts, which I did, and I was supposed to bring them here for them to pick up when they come tomorrow for dinner. I’ve done what I needed to do for them, so now I’m going to do what I can to help you feel better. Don’t worry about those two.”
Momo looks at him, feeling herself soften just at the seriousness and clear care written all over him, and she sighs defeatedly, “Alright, I’ll stop. Thank you, Touya.”
“Don’t gotta thank me for making sure that you’re okay,” huffs Touya with an eye roll that she knows isn’t meant for anything other than to show his exasperation.
“You say that, but I think I do,” says Momo gently as she sits up, setting her mug down on the table. “Touya, you’ve been making sure that I’m okay, for as long as we’ve known each other. Even more so since we ended up neighbors. You’re always checking on me, taking care of me when I don’t, and if you’re not doing that, you’re making me smile on days where smiling just doesn’t seem possible. I think you deserve thanks because you get me through so much, and it means more than I’ll ever be able to explain.”
“I’m just trying to make sure you’re okay, Momo,” mutters Touya as he tries to shake off her attention. But then she shivers, almost violently, and he leans forward. “You deserve to be taken care of, and I want to take care of you.”
Momo doesn’t know what to say to that, slightly caught off guard by his words and the shiver that left her feeling colder than when she was under the attack of those cool raindrops falling from the sky. But then he’s leaning so close, tugging at the blanket that’s sitting along the back of the couch. She lifts her face, and he’s right there, lips brushing as he turns to look at her while settling the blanket around her shoulders. She feels him freeze before the hand that was dropping the blanket around her shoulder tugs her back at the same time that he leans back. Want surges through her though, so Momo lifts a hand and twists it in his shirt as she tugs him back in. Their lips brush together gently, his hand going slack against her shoulder before it slips down her back. When their lips slot together, a thought slips past Momo’s adoration long enough to remind herself that she’d been wearing a watermelon lip balm, had applied it again after the shower, and Touya might not like it too much since he’s not a huge watermelon fan. But then the innocent slotting of lips ends, Touya pulling away first, and she can’t open her eyes as her teeth catch on her bottom lip.
Momo lets what just happened seep into her mind, lets it settle until all she knows is that she has to tell him now because they’d just kissed, she just felt his lips pressing against hers and his hand heavy and warm against her back.
Momo wants it to happen again.
Momo wants more.
As her eyelids flutter open, onyx eyes locking on vibrant blue, she whispers, “Well, I wasn’t expecting that to happen today, but I’m kind of really glad it did.”
“Uh, you wanna tell me why that is, Princess?” asks Touya in a tone that says he’s completely caught off guard by all of this, but there’s curiosity in the way his brows furrow and his head tilts to the side.
“I’d love to, Touya,” replies Momo gently, hesitation starting to creep in, but she’s determined to say it. Fear be damned right now because he kissed her back. “I’m glad, beyond glad really, that this happened because I’ve liked you for so long that it’s transformed into something far more intense that will probably scare you off if I were to put it into words properly. Touya, I’ve liked you for years, for as long as the paparazzi have been claiming we’re dating, even longer really, and god was that a problem when they first started reporting it. I thought they’d figured it out, but they were just being speculative because of how close we became in front of everyone.”
Momo doesn’t stop looking into those blue eyes, watching them widen until they look like they could pop out of Touya’s head. She doesn’t stop watching, wanting to show him how serious she is, how much she means the words falling from her tongue to splay across the cushion between them, the cushion that they’re usually cuddled on when they watch movies together at Touya’s apartment. She watches the way Touya softens, the way he melts forward, then she squeals as he tugs her against his side, twisting her legs to lay over his lap as he wraps her in a blanket, and a squeak leaves her lips when he puts a hand to her cheek, tips her head back and kisses her deeply.
He lays a claim on her with a kiss so deep, tongue licking into her mouth, leaving absolutely nothing left as she falls into his love, and it’s everything. He takes and gives, and she meets him as best she can, even battling back to take control as she pushes into the kiss, but only long enough for her bottom lip to be nipped at before his tongue licks against the roof of her mouth before pulling away.
Momo’s chest is heaving, feeling completely off-kilter, and almost aching for another kiss even as she buries her face in her arm to cough. His hand rubs gently up and down her back, but the moment she can take in three full breaths without coughing again, he leans in and brushes a gentle kiss to her lips again.
“As much as I adore this because holy crap can you kiss, I’m sick,” whines Momo when she pulls away, pouting while he moves to pick her mug up and offer it to her.
“I can take being sick when I’m currently doing the whole therapy and no work thing,” sighs Touya as she takes the mug, still pouting at him until he snorts. “Princess, I am fully aware that I could get sick, but I really don’t care because you’re adorable and you have feelings for me that I fully fucking reciprocate. I really like you too, Momo, and I needed to kiss you about it, sick or not.”
Momo doesn’t know what to say to that as her cheeks flush deeply, making her feel way too hot as she stares at his half-smile.
“I’m both exhausted and in need of more kisses, which does not bode well for you, Touya,” says Momo softly as she adjusts further until she can lay her head on his shoulder after taking a sip of her hot cocoa. “Also, we can discuss it better after I get some sleep, but you and me? We should be together and go on a date in like a week when this whole thing hopefully wears off for me.”
“We’ll talk more later then, Princess,” replies Touya gently as he adjusts his hold and warmth seeps into Momo from his hands on her back and leg. “And we’re definitely going on a date, but before you slip into dreamland, do you want me to take you to yours? Otherwise, you can take my bed while I take the couch.”
“We’ve slept in the same bed before, Firefly,” whispers Momo as Touya carefully takes her mug while exhaustion melts over her like honey. “Like you so much.”
“Like you so much too, Sleepyhead,” snorts Touya.
Momo lets her eyes fall closed as she rests fully against Touya, and when she wakes up in his bed, with him curled around her, everything will hit her all over again. She can’t wait to see what he does when she inevitably wakes him up to clarify it all.